IBM recognized this commitment to innovation by publishing its case study, “NetworkIP supports expansion with IBM Informix and System x,” which showcases NetworkIP’s innovative use of their best-in-class solutions. The innovation resulted in end-user account management and call processing transactions running over five times faster, and while NetworkIP is already known for its reliability, the implementation further enhanced the platform’s stability. NetworkIP is open for business 24/7, so a seamless upgrade was paramount. By utilizing IBM’s Informix Enterprise Replication (ER) technology, there is almost zero downtime.

“The NetworkIP database architecture was designed with 100% uptime in mind. We know that hardware can fail, and it is our job to ensure that these failures can be recovered from instantaneously, with minimal or no impact to our platform,” said Andrew Ford, Senior DBA, NetworkIP. “We accomplish this through multiple levels of redundancy. If you are looking at a server, a disk drive, a network cable or any other piece of hardware in our data center, you can be guaranteed that it has a backup that can be brought into service automatically and without human intervention.”

NetworkIP has a long-standing relationship with IBM. NetworkIP has won the IBM Information on Demand Innovation Award for Best Database Solution, which recognizes organizations using IBM-based solutions to significantly improve efficiencies and gain a competitive advantage for their organizations.

Since 1998, Network Enhanced Telecom, LLP dba NetworkIP, has been a leading provider of patented and best-in-class telephony and stored value technologies, systems and integrated services incorporating long distance, mobile, conferencing and customer service. NetworkIP customers run their entire business — from facilities and billing to back-office — on the industry’s most innovative Hosted Services Platform, ensuring the best combination of usage-based pricing and call quality, innovation, reliability and increased profitability. For more information, please visit: www.NetworkIP.net.

# # #

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with NetworkIP, please call Roland Jimenez at 512-501-2212 or email at rjimenez@networkip.net.

Below is an excerpt from the email campaign with a full link at the end of the article.

Are you ready to make a change for the challenges of tomorrow?

• Control your own products with usage versus discount minutes
• Outsource your facilities to eliminate the cost and management of running your own switch
• Gain access to the tools that will enable you to create competitive products
• Get the carrier quality that is needed to retain your customers
• Take advantage of 24/7 support

NetworkIP gives distributors the flexibility to quickly offer new prepaid products and services with the industry’s most evolved and proven Hosted Services Platform. Additionally, NetworkIP is a usage-based provider, meaning you ONLY pay for minutes used and you keep the breakage. No more guessing what your true rate is or how your products are performing. All of this is done online from anywhere in the world.

Click here to continue reading the email.

More than a dozen new CSP customers have moved beyond the limits of traditional data warehouse tools with Vertica thanks to its ability to plumb terabytes of raw subscriber and network data at blazingly fast speeds.

With this next-generation analytic performance, companies such as Verizon, Comcast, Sprint, Vonage, Level 3, NetworkIP, Syniverse, Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT) and IRIS Wireless have discovered new business intelligence capabilities and opportunities previously inaccessible to them. They can better understand and respond to customer needs, stemming churn and winning new customers away from competitors. Using Vertica, these CSPs can now continuously innovate, creating new products and offerings to boost revenue.

Vertica’s high-speed analytic capabilities also help CSPs meet regulatory requirements and venture into new lines of business like wireless or IP data services. Vertica’s ability to crunch massive amounts of raw data in near real time gives more people than ever the insight they need to make better, more timely decisions such as spotting fraud, meeting service level agreements or re-routing traffic to the lowest cost path.

For example, Verizon has built several terabyte-scale call detail record (CDR) data marts using Vertica to support billing assurance, compliance and other initiatives. Sprint is delivering better, more reliable wireless service to customers running Vertica with BusinessObjects to analyze network performance data. And NetworkIP is using Vertica to supercharge a key business offering for its customers, enabling them to query nearly ten times more CDR data 200 times faster than before.

That’s because Vertica is a new generation of ultra-fast data warehouse technology architected specifically for the severe data problems CSPs and other businesses face today. Performing ad hoc queries on terabytes of caller data does not scale well using traditional data warehouse systems from Oracle, Netezza and others, which use row-oriented databases designed for write-intensive transaction workloads rather than read-intensive analytical workloads.

Vertica, by comparison, is powered by a column-oriented MPP architecture optimized for screamingly fast data loading and queries, combined with powerful data compression that dramatically reduces I/O constraints and storage costs.

“As competition heats up, CSPs must be able to react to network and customer service issues within minutes, not days. They must also ensure high network performance and quickly develop new products to retain customers and cut costs,” said Derek Schoettle, senior director, communications industry at Vertica Systems, Inc. “Vertica addresses the desperate need for operational and customer intelligence that is more timely and insightful so CSPs can reduce churn, cut costs and increase revenue with new services.”

About Vertica

Vertica Systems is the market innovator for high-performance analytic database management systems that run on industry-standard hardware. Co-founded by database pioneer Dr. Michael Stonebraker, Vertica has developed column-oriented analytic database technology with an MPP architecture that lets companies of any size store and query very large databases orders of magnitude faster and more affordably than other solutions. The Vertica Analytic Database is available as software only, as a hardware based appliance, as a virtual appliance on VMware or online as a cloud computing solution. The technology’s unmatched speed, scalability, flexibility and ease of use helps Vertica’s 100+ customers including JP Morgan Chase, Verizon, Mozilla, Comcast, Level(3) Communications and Vonage capitalize on business opportunities in real time. Vertica is headquartered in Billerica, Mass. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at http://www.vertica.com.

Source: Vertica Systems

Copyright (C) 2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Originally published at: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/telcos-embracing-vertica-analytic-database-grow-market-share-perform/#

More details coming soon including information in regards to our sponsorship of the Prepaid Pavilion. In the meantime, visit www.prepaidpressexpo.com for additional information.

I will say a couple of things about our Telco 2.0 panel at PTC, where I shared a stage with Network IP (Jaduka), MetaSwitch and IntelePeer.

First, I have maintained for some time (and reiterated from the stage) that Network IP is the most underestimated company in the IP communications space. As far as vision, they get it. As far as company effort to make that vision a reality, they are doing more than is apparent on the surface. I like “old time” telephone industry companies that grew up on voice and now are trying really hard to make sure voice is even more relevant in the future.

I believe Network IP/Jaduka will startle some people, soon.

I got a chance to work with IntelePeer again at the IT Expo, and likewise continue to be impressed with how much thought the company has given to “a la carte” approaches to voice and communications applications. If you knew the company five years ago, you might not recognize it today. But more important is the thinking behind ways new applications using voice can be created in non-monolithic ways.

Finally, at least one or two people might have been surprised to see MetaSwitch on the Telco 2.0 plenary panel. But, likewise, I have known this company for a while. It is among the firms firmly established in the “old” business that are working really hard to be even more relevant in the “new” business. I believe we will see further signs of that effort this year.

There are some people who continue to say that old legacy telco companies will not survive the world that is coming, or should not. Well, that remains to be seen. But I suspect some people underestimate their ability to change.

Human creativity and grit are not to be found only among the ranks of the bleeding edge “Web” companies out there. Lots of people in the old “legacy” business are quite capable of leading a transformation and transition to something that will look quite different.

I also will say that my time with the ATA members points out just how demanding this sort of work is. One has to adapt to the advanced technologies, while at the same time gearing those tools to be used by service providers and their customers who might not care a whit for the coolness and cleverness demonstrated at the leading edge.

Written by: Gary Kim

Originally published at: http://ipcarrier.blogspot.com/2009/02/just-couple-of-compliments.html

Click to continue reading full article (PDF).

Written by: Mindy Long

Basically any application that uses IP can be described as being “over” it and then defined specifically with interoperability standards and be made to seamlessly interconnect whether over the public Internet, or a private IP network. This somewhat dilutes the purist form of peering which is rather simple and simple is usually better and easier to understand. What is also understandable is the challenge of finding a functional similarity in the use of the term peering for all groups in the IP world. The truth is that IP is layer 3, but the Vo is Layers 5-7. Just as with any other religion, though, there are sects, but they share the same common root at some point.

In the VoIP sect there are many developments occurring. VoIP Peering is manifesting itself in application to network bridge-building at several levels. A recent example of this comes from a Dallas-based company,Jaduka ( News – Alert) (www.jaduka.com). Jaduka and their Transaction Services link Point of Sale (POS) with mobile networks and devices and also ecommerce via the web, all to voice (VoIP and PSTN) networks.

The uses for these capabilities are financial transaction in nature. Working towards a more integrated experience with data integrity and security are very valid efforts and truly create the “glue that binds”. What is particularly interesting about this group and their work is in their roots. Jaduka’s parent company, NetworkIP, is a carrier-grade telecom service provider.

For them the concept of developing web APIs as an interface to the voice network was a logical way to drive more traffic. Through the process of creating a web-window to the mobile and fixed voice world with ties to the commerce terminals of brick and mortar they have built an IP version of a free-trade zone allowing multiple parties to virtually meet in the middle and transact. It is virtual real estate for a giant digital Wal-Mart.

As with all things in life, there are building blocks. From those early stages, the future is built. Not many can explain how it all works, but most can benefit from what has been created without even knowing what really went in to it.

Written by: Hunter Newby, Chief Strategy Officer and Director of a special purpose acquisition corporation in the communications industry, writes the VoIPeering column for TMCnet To read more of Hunter’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Greg Galitzine

Orignally published at: http://hosted-voip.tmcnet.com/feature/articles/45757-ip-building-blocks.htm

Inc. 5000 Project Manager Jim Melloan, said: “The Inc. 5000 gives an unrivalled portrait of young, underreported companies across all industries doing fascinating things with cutting-edge business models, as well as older companies that are still showing impressive growth.”

NetworkIP CEO Pete Pattullo, added: “We are honored that Inc. has recognized the growth and technological innovation of NetworkIP, our subsidiary Jaduka, and the performance of our employees over the past three years. We are continuing to expand the effectiveness of our next-generation telephony platform and patented software applications. We remain committed to providing leading-class telephony and transaction services applications and services across the mobile, Internet and prepaid phone card industries.”

Since 1998, NetworkIP (www.NetworkIP.net) has delivered best-in-class telephony and stored value technologies, systems, and integrated services that ensure reliability, minimize complexity, and increase profitability.

Its Jaduka (www.Jaduka.com) subsidiary enables customers to harness communications and technologies that create more effective business operations. Through its developer friendly Web Services API, Jaduka’s award-winning technology allows applications to trigger individual or group telephone calls; provide automated alerts; manage surveys and other digital files; and administer account information and transaction history for a variety of applications.

The 5000 companies that made the list reported aggregate revenue of $185 billion and median three-year growth of 147 percent. Most important, the 2008 Inc. 5000 companies were engines of job growth, having created more than 826,033 jobs since those companies were founded. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies that can be sorted by industry and region can be found at www.inc5000.com.

Methodology
The 2008 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2004 through 2007. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based and privately held, independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies – as of December 31, 2007, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004, and $2 million in 2007.

About Inc.com
Inc.com, the daily resource for entrepreneurs, delivers how-to guides, advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multi-media to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses. Inc.com offers dynamic marketing solutions to help advertisers effectively reach Inc.com’s audience of business leaders. Visit http://www.inc.com.

Wireless payments sure are snappy. You can buy gas with the wave of a wand and buzz through a toll booth without opening a window. But this fast-and-easy way to transfer customer data can pose a threat to security. Any organization using the technology should harden its defenses before it’s deployed.

Warning: Your personal data may be at risk. As RFID (radio frequency identification) devices work their way into consumers’ everyday lives, the potential for data breaches grows rapidly.

RFID technology used to be used primarily to track warehouse operations and perform inventory control through. Now, this same technology is finding its way into smart keys — keys that merely need to come close to a lock in order to unlock it. RFID transponders now speed travelers through toll booths and gas stations without requiring users to whip out credit cards or old-fashioned cash.

But these modern-day marvels can be quickly and easily read by the devices the user intends to use them with, they can also be easily read by someone with nefarious intentions. Even worse, vendors are moving RFID short-distance transmissions into long-distance delivery via wireless networks and satellite relays. All of this happens over a patchwork of hardware and software that often defies PCI (payment card industry) compliance rules and best-practice network security.

“RFID can communicate lots of different data. RFID tags need a validation process. Users have to know what is acceptable and what the guidelines are. There is no one standard for this. Too many proprietary systems are in use,” Steve Salvitti, senior vice president of enterprise mobility for InfoLogix, told CRM Buyer.

Expanding Uses

A new survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) finds that use of radio frequency identification technology is on the rise in a variety of industries. Among the most popular applications are asset tracking, personal identification, supply chain, retail management and closed-loop manufacturing.

The worldwide survey of 155 IT companies found that 46 percent of their customers have implemented one or more RFID solutions, either as pilot projects or production deployments. This is an increase from a 2007 survey, when IT companies reported 34 percent of their customers had initiated RFID projects. Customers come from a cross section of industries, including services, government, finance, healthcare, retail, communications and manufacturing.

Among the RFID products and services IT companies say they are delivering to customers today are hardware installation and maintenance products, consulting and training services and software implementations. The survey, however, did not focus on security factors associated with the spreading use of RFID.

“RFID offers adopters of the technology a number of benefits, from improvements in manufacturing, inventory and distribution processes, to reduced costs for product theft, spoilage or obsolescence,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA. “It’s incumbent on our industry, with help from organizations such as CompTIA, to help customers overcome any obstacles to RFID usage and help them benefit from the efficiencies RFID can deliver.”

Overlapping Technology

Because RFID is still relatively new in consumer and enterprise circles, two similar technologies are often lumped together. RFID and Near Field Communications (NFC) are not the same thing.

“In the market, RFID has come to refer to inventory tracking, where NFC is more specific to person transactions. A key difference between RFID and NFC protocols are the way in which the master/slave relationship is handled,” Brian Kirk, vice president of business development for NetworkIP, told CRM Buyer.

With RFID, the master and slave roles — which device gets to control which — cannot be reversed, whereas with NFC, the roles of master and slave can be reversed. In fact, NFC provides for a peer-to-peer relationship, he explained.

The consumer solution typically called “RFID,” then, is more likely to really be NFC. That transition will take place very soon, according to Kirk.

Security Issues

One common vehicle for deploying RFID and NFC technology today is the Smart Card. A considerable amount of education is needed for both consumers and retailers about security. Knowledge about how a consumer’s identity and bank accounts will be secured will be imperative if these technologies are going to succeed, noted Kirk.

Different standards exist. For instance, ISO14443 and 15693 are the international standards for contactless smart cards operating at a radio frequency of 13.56 MHz. ISO14443 has a range of 10 cm (4 inches) and is viewed as the more secure of the two standards.

The Near Field Communications protocol adheres to ISO14443. ISO 15693 has a much wider range of transmission (1 to 1.5 meters) and is more likely to be used for tracking inventory in a warehouse, according to Kirk.

“Not only does NFC have a much shorter transmission range than RFID, inherently making it more secure than traditional RFID, but applications running over NFC technologies will more than likely encrypt the data that is being transmitted. So even if there is a ’sniffer’ trying to pick up the transmission, it won’t pick up anything of use because of the encryption,” said Kirk.

Along the Way

Security with these devices is not a universal given. RFID is still getting under way in some circles, Mike Lang, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Numerex (Nasdaq: NMRX), told CRM Buyer. Its newest role is using satellite, cellular or WiFi for long-distance transmission of data taken in by local reading devices.

“Security is something you don’t just have with a purchased product. You have to keep working on it every day. This area needs a certain level of education on what it is and how it works. In the wireless world, the big challenge is how the RFID device integrates with security measures,” said Lang.

The distance RFID data travels is not as much of a concern as how that data gets to where is is going. The key factor is what happens when the information is transmitted, according to InfoLogix’s Salvitti.

“There is no difference whether the use is short or long distance. What matters more are other factors that affect security,” he said. “There are multiple points with the hardware and software that allow the possibility of a breach.”

For instance, the actual device used and its firmware need to be PCI compliant, which many older devices still in wide use are not. Also, WiFi networks pose a risk. Once the data goes on the air, how secure is it? The data has to go to a SAP (NYSE: SAP) local environment. How secure is that?

What’s Needed

“Some vendors say, ‘I’m compliant today, so I am OK.’ But that is not true,” Salvitti said. Being compliant is a constant battle. Something that is secure today may not be secure in two months.

“RFID users need monitoring of the network. This didn’t exist before. Hardware and software vendors all have their own offerings. The challenge is how to make it all work together. This is the crux of what is happening,” he said.

This is a new technology, and the penalties for being non-compliant are high. So are the liabilities when breaches occur, he noted.

“RFID can be made secure if it is done right. But if users only engage certain pieces, it will only get partial security. It can be done. The question is how committed is the enterprise to doing it,” Salvitti concluded.

Written by: Jack M. Germain

Originally published at: http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Customer-Data-and-Wireless-Payments-Does-Convenience-Trump-Security-64187.html